Arapaho Music

Arapaho Courting Flute from the Library of Congress, Dayton C. Miller collection, DCM 0687 http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/dcmflute.0687 The Native American flute has been reported to be the third oldest known musical instrument in the world, with bone flutes dating back over 60,000 years according to Roger McGee, an artist with a passion for Native American flute making and playing. Mr. McGee shares the following legend from the Lakota, a tribe with close ties to our own in current years. “This story was told to me by a Lakota Elder named Phillip “Brown Bear” Lane….he came to visit my studio to see the statue I was sculpting of Walla Walla Chief Peo Peo Mox Mox ( Yellowbird )…he heard that a statue was being made to honor the Native People and he could not believe this was happening….He said he was afraid with his passing that his old Indian ways would be forgotten…..He was proud to see the statue I was working on.. I showed him my flutes and I played for him….that is when he sat down and told me his story of the first flute….He passed on shortly there after…..I am sure he would be pleased to share the story with you and your readers…Yes please use the story as you see fit….I only ask that you do not change any of the story, from the way it was told to me……Thank You again for your interest……..Many Blessings to You! Aho!….Roger McGee Legend of the first flute A very long time ago there was a young man who was very interested in a beautiful young girl. He was always trying to get her attention, but she never seemed to notice him. Whenever she was present he would ride his horse proudly, but nothing he did seemed to attract her. One day when the girls were down by the river getting water, the young man went down to the river and began diving off rocks and swimming across the river, to show her how skilled he was, but again she paid him no mind. Dejected, the young man walked into the nearby old growth forest and sat down at the base of a long dead cedar tree. As he sat there thinking about this girl, a woodpecker landed on a hollowed limb that was over his head, the limb had been hollowed over time from the wind and weather. The woodpecker began to peck holes….tap, tap, tap……… along the length of this hollowed limb…….. tap. tap, tap…….as the woodpecker pecked, the limb broke off and fell next to the young man, and as the wind blew over this hollow limb with the holes in it, he heard musical voices coming from it. He picked...